# 麒麟
## Chinese

* 麒麟 (Written Standard Chinese)
* 麒麟 (Cantonese)
* 麒麟 (Classical)
* Khì-lìn (Hakka)
* Kî-lîn (Southern Min)
* qilin (English)

### Etymology

* A user suggests that this Chinese entry be cleaned up, giving the reason: “etymology is too long and not concise”.
* Please see the discussion on Requests for cleanup or the talk page for more information and remove this template after the problem has been dealt with.
Old Chinese pronunciation for this word was *g(ɯ)-rin (Zhengzhang), and in pre-Qin times the beast was also referred to as
* 麟 (OC *rin),
* 麐 (OC *m·rin, *m·rins),
* 𪊓, or
* 蔽 (OC *peds),
the last two having been attested in the oracle bone script already.
There is much debate as to what animal the qilin beast was; some maintain that the qilin was a beast only found in mythology, even though it may have been based on some animal in pre-historic times, and some argue that the qilin was in reality the river deer, the ox or cow, or the Indian rhinoceros (Wang, 2009).
Janhunen (2011) tentatively compares 麒麟 (OC *ɡɯ rin) to a Northeast Asian etymon *kalimV, which denotes either "whale" or "mammoth"; however, he cautiously remarks that "[t]he formal and semantic similarity between *kilin < *gilin ~ *gïlin 'unicorn' and *kalimV 'whale' (but also Samoyedic *kalay- 'mammoth') is sufficient to support, though perhaps not confirm, the hypothesis of an etymological connection". He also notes a possible connection between Old Chinese and Mongolian (*)kers ~ (*)keris ~ (*)kiris "rhinoceros" (> Khalkha Mongolian хирс (xirs)).

### Pronunciation

* Mandarin
    (Pinyin): qílín
    (Zhuyin): ㄑㄧˊ ㄌㄧㄣˊ
* Cantonese (Jyutping): kei$^4$ leon$^4$ / kei$^4$ leon$^{4-2}$
* Hakka (Sixian, PFS): khî-lîn
* Eastern Min (BUC): gì-lìng
* Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): kî-lîn / khî-lîn
* Wu (Shanghai, Wugniu): $^6$ji-lin
* Mandarin
** (Standard Chinese)
*** Hanyu Pinyin: qílín
*** Zhuyin: ㄑㄧˊ ㄌㄧㄣˊ
*** Tongyong Pinyin: cílín
*** Wade–Giles: chʻi$^2$-lin$^2$
*** Yale: chí-lín
*** Gwoyeu Romatzyh: chyilin
*** Palladius: цилинь (cilinʹ)
*** Sinological IPA : /t͡ɕʰi³⁵ lin³⁵/
*** Homophones: [Show/Hide]$^{edit}$淇淋 麒麐 / 麒麟 麒麟
* Cantonese
** (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
*** Jyutping: kei$^4$ leon$^4$ / kei$^4$ leon$^{4-2}$
*** Yale: kèih lèuhn / kèih léun
*** Cantonese Pinyin: kei$^4$ loen$^4$ / kei$^4$ loen$^{4-2}$
*** Guangdong Romanization: kéi$^4$ lên$^4$ / kéi$^4$ lên$^{4-2}$
*** Sinological IPA : /kʰei̯²¹ lɵn²¹/, /kʰei̯²¹ lɵn²¹⁻³⁵/
* Hakka
** (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Neipu)
*** Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: khî-lîn
*** Hakka Romanization System: ki$^ˊ$ lin$^ˊ$
*** Hagfa Pinyim: ki$^1$ lin$^1$
*** Sinological IPA: /kʰi²⁴⁻¹¹ lin²⁴/
* Eastern Min
** (Fuzhou)
*** Bàng-uâ-cê: gì-lìng
*** Sinological IPA : /ki⁵³⁻³³ l̃iŋ⁵³/
* Southern Min
** (Hokkien: Xiamen, Quanzhou, Zhangzhou, General Taiwanese)
*** Pe̍h-ōe-jī: kî-lîn
*** Tâi-lô: kî-lîn
*** Phofsit Daibuun: kiliin
*** IPA (Xiamen, Quanzhou): /ki²⁴⁻²² lin²⁴/
*** IPA (Taipei): /ki²⁴⁻¹¹ lin²⁴/
*** IPA (Zhangzhou): /ki¹³⁻²² lin¹³/
*** IPA (Kaohsiung): /ki²³⁻³³ lin²³/
** (Hokkien: Longyan)
*** Pe̍h-ōe-jī: khî-lîn
*** Tâi-lô: khî-lîn
*** Phofsit Daibuun: qiliin
*** IPA (Longyan): /kʰi¹¹ lin¹¹/
* Wu
** (Northern: Shanghai)
*** Wugniu: $^6$ji-lin
*** MiniDict: ji$^去$ lin
*** Wiktionary Romanisation (Shanghai): $^3$jji-lin
*** Sinological IPA (Shanghai): /d͡ʑi²² lin⁴⁴/
* Middle Chinese: gi lin
Rime :
| Character | 麒 | 麟 |
| Reading # | 1/1 | 1/1 |
| Initial (聲) | 群 (30) | 來 (37) |
| Final (韻) | 之 (19) | 眞 (43) |
| Tone (調) | Level (Ø) | Level (Ø) |
| Openness (開合) | Open | Open |
| Division (等) | III | III |
| Fanqie | 渠之切 | 力珍切 |
| Baxter | gi | lin |
| Reconstructions |||
| Zhengzhang Shangfang | /ɡɨ/ | /liɪn/ |
| Pan Wuyun | /ɡɨ/ | /lin/ |
| Shao Rongfen | /ɡie/ | /ljen/ |
| Edwin Pulleyblank | /gɨ/ | /lin/ |
| Li Rong | /ɡiə/ | /liĕn/ |
| Wang Li | /ɡĭə/ | /lĭĕn/ |
| Bernhard Karlgren | /gi/ | /li̯ĕn/ |
| Expected Mandarin Reflex | qí | lín |
| Expected Cantonese Reflex | kei$^4$ | lan$^4$ |
* Old Chinese
    (Zhengzhang): /*ɡɯ rin/
Zhengzhang system (2003) :
| Character | 麒 | 麟 |
| Reading # | 1/1 | 1/1 |
| No. | 9956 | 8201 |
| Phonetic component | 其 | 粦 |
| Rime group | 之 | 眞 |
| Rime subdivision | 0 | 1 |
| Corresponding MC rime | 其 | 㷠 |
| Old Chinese | /*ɡɯ/ | /*rin/ |

### Noun

麒麟
* (Chinese mythology) qilin (propitious mythological beast) (Classifier: 隻／只 m c mn)
    From: Mencius, c. 4th century BCE
    Qǐ wéi mín zāi? Qílín zhī yú zǒushòu, fènghuáng zhī yú fēiniǎo, Tàishān zhī yú qiūdié, hé hǎi zhī yú xíngliáo, lèi yě. [Pinyin]
    Is it only among men that it is so? There is the Qilin among quadrupeds, the Fenghuang (phoenix) among birds, the Tai mountain among mounds and ant-hills, and rivers and seas among rain-pools. Though different in degree, they are the same in kind.
* (figurative, literary) outstanding person; man of ability
* (literary or Taiwanese Hokkien) giraffe (ruminant of the genus Giraffa) (Classifier: 隻／只 mn)
    From: 1451, Ma Huan, Enjoying the Views of the Sea Cliffs (瀛涯勝覽)
    Qílín qián èr zú gāo jiǔ chǐ yú, hòu liǎng zú yuē gāo liù chǐ, tóu tái jǐng cháng yī zhàng liù chǐ. Shǒu áng hòu dī, rén mò néng qí. [Pinyin]
    The giraffe’s front legs are [about] nine-chi tall, rear legs about six-chi tall; when it lifts its head and neck, [it stands] [about] one-zhang-six-chi tall. With its head so high up and its sloping backside, none can ride it.

#### Notes on definitions and usage

During the Song–Ming Dynasties, the giraffe was introduced to China, either by envoys from other Asian or African countries, or through Zheng He who commanded multiple expeditionary voyages to Asia and Africa (Zhang, 2007). Besides using the transcription 祖剌法 (zǔlàfǎ) (from Arabic زُرَافَة (zurāfa, “giraffe”)) to name the animal, the Chinese also referred to it as qilin, believing it was the prototype of the mythological beast qilin. Such association may be due to the phonological similarity of the words for “giraffe” in North African languages, to the pronunciation of 麒麟 at the time (i.e. a phono-semantic matching) (Zhang, 2007). Compare:
    Somali geri (“giraffe”), Sango kôlo, Amharic ቀጭኔ (ḳäč̣ne), Kazakh керік (kerık), Mursi kirin and Arabic زَرَافَة (zarāfa), زُرَافَة (zurāfa) (whence English giraffe).
The “giraffe” sense of 麒麟 is obsolete in most varieties of modern Chinese, but is preserved in the Sinoxenic loanwords in Japanese (麒(き)麟(りん) (kirin)) and Korean (기린). In modern Vietnamese (kì lân), this word refers to the beast qilin, as well as the western mythological beast unicorn.

#### Synonyms

* (outstanding person):
* 大器 (dàqì) (figurative)
* 大材 (dàcái) (literary)
* 絕才 / 绝才 (juécái) (literary)
* 茂士 (màoshì) (literary)
* 英才 (yīngcái)
* 豪傑 / 豪杰 (háojié) (literary)
* 賢材 / 贤材 (xiáncái) (literary)
* 高能 (gāonéng) (literary)
* 鸞鳳 / 鸾凤 (luánfèng) (archaic)
* 龍虎 / 龙虎 (lónghǔ) (figurative)
* (giraffe):
| Variety | Location | Words |
| Formal (Written Standard Chinese) | Formal (Written Standard Chinese) | 長頸鹿 |
| Taxonomic name | Taxonomic name | 長頸鹿 |
| Northeastern Mandarin | Beijing | 長脖兒鹿 |
| Northeastern Mandarin | Taiwan | 長頸鹿 |
| Northeastern Mandarin | Singapore | 長頸鹿 |
| Lanyin Mandarin | Ürümqi | 長脖兒鹿 |
| Southwestern Mandarin | Liuzhou | 長頸鹿 |
| Cantonese | Hong Kong | 長頸鹿 |
| Hakka | Huizhou (Huicheng; Bendihua) | 長頸鹿 |
| Hakka | Miaoli (N. Sixian) | 長頸鹿 |
| Hakka | Pingtung (Neipu; S. Sixian) | 長頸鹿 |
| Hakka | Pingtung (Wuluo, Ligang; S. Sixian) | 長頸鹿仔 |
| Hakka | Kaohsiung (Meinong; S. Sixian) | 長頸鹿 |
| Hakka | Kaohsiung (Shanlin; S. Sixian) | 長頸鹿 |
| Hakka | Hsinchu County (Zhudong; Hailu) | 長頸鹿 |
| Hakka | Taichung (Dongshi; Dabu) | 長頸鹿 |
| Hakka | Hsinchu County (Qionglin; Raoping) | 長頸鹿 |
| Hakka | Yunlin (Lunbei; Zhao'an) | 長頸鹿 |
| Southern Min | Xiamen | 長頸鹿, 長頷鹿 |
| Southern Min | Zhao'an | 長頸鹿 |
| Southern Min | Taipei (Wanhua) | 長頭鹿 |
| Southern Min | New Taipei (Tamsui) | 長頭鹿 |
| Southern Min | Kaohsiung | 長頷鹿, 麒麟仔 |
| Southern Min | Kaohsiung (Cijin) | 長頷頸 |
| Southern Min | Kaohsiung (Dalinpu, Siaogang) | 長頸鹿, 長鹿仔 |
| Southern Min | Yilan | 長頷鹿 |
| Southern Min | Yilan (Luodong) | 躼跤鹿仔 |
| Southern Min | Yilan (Toucheng) | 躼跤鹿仔 |
| Southern Min | Changhua (Lukang) | 麒麟鹿 |
| Southern Min | Taichung | 麒麟 |
| Southern Min | Taichung (Wuqi) | 麒麟鹿 |
| Southern Min | Tainan | 長頷鹿 |
| Southern Min | Taitung | 長頷鹿 |
| Southern Min | Hsinchu | 長頷鹿 |
| Southern Min | Penghu (Magong) | 長頷鹿 |
| Southern Min | Penang (Hokkien) | 麒麟鹿, 長頸鹿 |
| Southern Min | Singapore (Hokkien) | 麒麟鹿, 長跤鹿, 長頸鹿 |
| Southern Min | Singapore (Teochew) | 長頸鹿 |

#### Derived terms

* 天上麒麟
* 拋麒麟 / 抛麒麟
* 瞪著麒麟說是馬 / 瞪着麒麟说是马
* 麒麟兒 / 麒麟儿 (qílín'ér)
* 麒麟尾
* 麒麟文化
* 麒麟果 (qílínguǒ)
* 麒麟楦 (qílínxuàn)
* 麒麟殿
* 麒麟童
* 麒麟送子
* 麒麟閣 / 麒麟阁
* 麒麟陣 / 麒麟阵
* 麒麟鞭
* 麒麟鹿

#### Descendants

* → Japanese: 麒(き)麟(りん) (kirin)
* → Korean: 기린(麒麟) (girin)
* → Vietnamese: kì lân (麒麟)
Others:
* → Thai: กิเลน (gì-leen)
* → Zhuang: geizlaenz, gizlinz

### Proper noun

麒麟
* (～區) Qilin District (district in Qujing, Yunnan province, China)
* (～鎮) Qilin (a town in Zongyang, Tongling, Anhui, China)

### References

* ↑ David Turton, Mozes Yigezu, Oilsarali Olibui, Mursi-English-Amharic Dictionary, 2009

## Japanese

Kanji in this term :
| 麒 | 麟 |
| き Jinmeiyō | りん Jinmeiyō |
| kan'on | on'yomi |
* Alternative spellings
* 騏驎 (general use) キリン (giraffe, beer)
* 麒麟 (kirin): a statue of a qilin, also known as the Chinese unicorn.
* 麒麟 (kirin): a giraffe.

### Etymology

From Old Japanese, in turn from Middle Chinese 麒麟 (MC gi lin). First cited in Japanese to the Nihon Shoki of 720.
The giraffe sense was probably based on a superficial resemblance between certain depictions of the mythical beast and the patterning and body shape of the real animal: a tailed, hoofed, and horned quadruped with a vaguely leopard-like spot pattern. First cited in Japanese to a text from 1798.

### Pronunciation

* (Tokyo) きりん [kìríń] (Heiban – [0])
* IPA: [kʲiɾʲĩɴ]

### Noun

麒(き)麟(りん) or 麒麟(キリン) • (kirin)
* [from 720] 麒麟, 騏驎: (mythology, Chinese mythology) a qilin
** 2010 May 23, Gosho Aoyama, “ＦＩＬＥ(ファイル).５(ご)　[青](せい)[龍](りゅう) [FILE 5: Azure Dragon]”, in 名(めい)探(たん)偵(てい)コナン [Legendary Detective Conan], volume 68 (fiction), Tokyo: Shogakukan, →ISBN:
    それは動(どう)物(ぶつ)のキリン！問(もん)題(だい)の麒(き)麟(りん)は…全(ぜん)身(しん)が黄(き)色(いろ)い鱗(うろこ)で覆(おお)われていて、姿(すがた)は鹿(しか)、牛(うし)の尾(お)と馬(うま)の蹄(ひづめ)を持(も)ち、龍(りゅう)に似(に)た頭(あたま)から１(いっ)本(ぽん)角(つの)が生(は)えてる…中(ちゅう)国(ごく)の伝(でん)説(せつ)上(じょう)の神(しん)獣(じゅう)だよ！
       Sore wa dōbutsu no kirin! Mondai no kirin wa… Zenshin ga kiiroi uroko de ōwarete ite, sugata wa shika, ushi no o to uma no hizume o mochi, ryū ni nita atama kara ippon tsuno ga haete ru… Chūgoku no densetsu jō no shinjū da yo!
       That’s giraffe(kirin) the animal! The qilin(kirin) we’re talking about… has a deer-like body covered in golden scales, with a cow’s tail and a horse’s hooves, and with a single horn growing from its dragonish head… It’s a mythical beast from Chinese legends!
* [date unknown] 麒麟, 騏驎: (shogi) the kirin, a piece in chūshōgi and larger shogi variants
* [from 1798] 麒麟, 騏驎, キリン: a giraffe (mammal)
    Synonym: ジラフ (jirafu)
** 2010 May 23, Gosho Aoyama, “ＦＩＬＥ(ファイル).５(ご)　[青](せい)[龍](りゅう) [FILE 5: Azure Dragon]”, in 名(めい)探(たん)偵(てい)コナン [Legendary Detective Conan], volume 68 (fiction), Tokyo: Shogakukan, →ISBN:
    それは動(どう)物(ぶつ)のキリン！問(もん)題(だい)の麒(き)麟(りん)は…全(ぜん)身(しん)が黄(き)色(いろ)い鱗(うろこ)で覆(おお)われていて、姿(すがた)は鹿(しか)、牛(うし)の尾(お)と馬(うま)の蹄(ひづめ)を持(も)ち、龍(りゅう)に似(に)た頭(あたま)から１(いっ)本(ぽん)角(つの)が生(は)えてる…中(ちゅう)国(ごく)の伝(でん)説(せつ)上(じょう)の神(しん)獣(じゅう)だよ！
       Sore wa dōbutsu no kirin! Mondai no kirin wa… Zenshin ga kiiroi uroko de ōwarete ite, sugata wa shika, ushi no o to uma no hizume o mochi, ryū ni nita atama kara ippon tsuno ga haete ru… Chūgoku no densetsu jō no shinjū da yo!
       That’s giraffe(kirin) the animal! The qilin(kirin) we’re talking about… has a deer-like body covered in golden scales, with a cow’s tail and a horse’s hooves, and with a single horn growing from its dragonish head… It’s a mythical beast from Chinese legends!

#### Usage notes

As with many terms that name organisms, this term is often spelled in katakana, especially in biological contexts (where katakana is customary), as キリン.

#### Derived terms

* 麒(き)麟(りん)角(かく) (kirinkaku)
* 麒(き)麟(りん)閣(かく) (KirinKaku)
* 麒(き)麟(りん)菊(ぎく) (kiringiku)
* 麒(き)麟(りん)竭(けつ) (kirinketsu)
* 麒(き)麟(りん)座(ざ) (Kirin-za, “Camelopardalis”)
* 麒(き)麟(りん)菜(さい) (kirinsai)
* 麒(き)麟(りん)児(じ) (kirinji, “rising star”)
* 麒(き)麟(りん)草(そう) (kirinsō)
* 麒(き)麟(りん)欄(らん) (kirinran)
* 麒(き)麟(りん)羚(れい)羊(よう) (kirin reiyō, “gerenuk”)

#### See also

* 麒麟 (mythology) on the Japanese Wikipedia.Wikipedia $^{ja}$
* Qilin on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
* キリン (giraffe) on the Japanese Wikipedia.Wikipedia $^{ja}$
* Giraffe on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

### References

* 1 2 “麒麟・騏驎”, in 日本国語大辞典 [Nihon Kokugo Daijiten]‎ (in Japanese), concise edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, 2006
* ↑ Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
* ↑ NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 [NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary] (in Japanese), Tokyo: NHK Publishing, Inc., →ISBN
* ↑ Kindaichi, Kyōsuke et al., editors (1997), 新明解国語辞典 [Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten] (in Japanese), Fifth edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

## Korean

Hanja in this term :
| 麒 | 麟 |

### Noun

麒麟 • (girin or McCune-Reischauer: kirin or Yale: kilin) (hangeul 기린)
* hanja form of 기린 (“giraffe; qilin”)

## Vietnamese

chữ Hán Nôm in this term :
| 麒 | 麟 |

### Noun

麒麟
* chữ Hán form of kì lân (“qilin”).